‘I want to be the president.’ Transylvania star is a game-changer on and off the court.

To describe Transylvania senior forward Dasia Thornton as well-rounded would be an understatement.

She has a black belt in taekwondo. She speaks Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Mandarin Chinese and knows a bit of Korean, French and Cherokee. She’s great with kids, serving as the team’s chosen leader when the program hosts youth camps.

And she has a very specific career goal.

“I want to be the president,” Thornton said. And yes, she does mean the president of the United States.

For many student-athletes, the thought of what follows the end of an athletic career can be daunting. But not for Thornton. She has a clear vision of what she wants, and of the type of change she wants to effect.

“When I graduate,” Thornton said. “It’s like, ‘What am I going to do next?’ And that’s something that I think a lot of student-athletes have to wrestle with, especially whether if they’re ending in high school or ending in college, but I do have other hobbies outside of basketball like languages, traveling, modeling, photography now, so I can use that as well.”

There are quite a few things on Thornton’s to-do list. First up is to win a national championship this weekend when the Pioneers (32-0) compete against Christopher Newport (31-0) in Transylvania’s first appearance in the NCAA Division III title game.

Thornton also has to shoot a short film for her video class, which she took simply because it sounded interesting. She plans to join the Peace Corps when she graduates from Transylvania. And, of course, eventually be elected the president of the United States.

Thornton, from Cincinnati, studies international relations with minors in Spanish, Chinese “and maybe religion.”

“I like to help people, and I like traveling,” Thornton explained. “I like meeting new people, talking to different people. This combines everything. … I knew from the jump this is what I have to do, and then it was perfect for Peace Corps prep.”

Transylvania has a formal partnership with the Peace Corps to prepare students to serve in the organization. The program was a factor in Thornton’s choosing the school. It didn’t hurt that she could also keep playing basketball.

Thornton’s desire to join the Peace Corps stems from her passion for helping others. She attended Montessori school from the time she began preschool through high school graduation. She said that not only impacted how she learns, but it also drew her to wanting to make a difference in youth development.

“I feel like that type of learning is different,” Thornton said. “It opens your mind to different perspectives, and just, you know, the diversity in the world and incorporating that into things that I’ve seen has helped me and I just want to share that with everybody else.”

It also doesn’t hurt that she sees herself as a kid at heart. She loves to have fun, and that’s evident. Whether you’re watching her on the court, or listening to her talk about her passions. Transylvania head coach Juli Fulks says that Thornton’s presence on the team is, in itself, a game-changer.

“Dasia’s uniqueness is a huge bonus because she is our true extrovert,” Fulks said. “And so there are many parts of the game, and in practice, where you need that. She complements the rest of the group and their strengths differently. And that is true as who she is as a person, as who she is on the court. And all of those things matter.”

A true example of that uniqueness can be seen during games. Thornton, who admittedly is not a big fan of drinking water, keeps iced coffee on the bench.

“It’s a large vanilla iced coffee with extra cream,” Thornton explained. “Extra sugar and extra pumps of vanilla. But it always happens to be six of each.”

The coffee must be Dunkin’ brand. That’s a non-negotiable. It’s a tradition that began during her sophomore season.

“COVID year,” Thornton said. “We would go to Dunkin’ in between the start of the game and after shoot-around. We didn’t have anything else to do. And we would get a coffee and just drink it before the game and then be energized for the game. And I’m like, ‘Let’s just drink it throughout the game.’”

She doesn’t even necessarily like coffee very much. It really is about what it provides.

“For the energy,” Thornton said. “It helps a lot, actually.”

According to Fulks, Thornton’s fun-loving nature has benefited her teammates.

“We need the cheerleader on the bench,” Fulks said. “There was a game she wasn’t able to play in last year and it was a huge game against John Carroll. And she was pompoms, full in, just like she was as a freshman. And that has been one of the things I’ve admired most about her. For all of them, when they were freshmen they had to wait their turn. And they did it with such grace and willingness to just be all-in, and be the cheerleaders and be the fun. And that is one of her best things. That she brings the fun to this, and that has been good for all of them.”

College can be a tremendously difficult time. Change is inevitable, and, it can be difficult to see it happen to you. But for Thornton, she was well aware of the shifts in her life. And, at first, she wasn’t happy about it.

“I’ve grown being around this group of girls and this staff,” Thornton said. “They’ve really helped me kind of find who I am. And I was really hostile in the beginning; I didn’t like change. I didn’t want to change who I was, but I knew like, maybe it would help if I, you know, just gave it a chance.”

Thornton’s skill on the court has also seen plenty of change and growth. In high school she was classified as a center and wasn’t expected to have the versatile, endurance-powered game that she has with the Pioneers.

“It was just get to the block, get to the block, get it at your own speed,” Thornton said. “Definitely endurance, been able to play a whole game now. And, just the skill, I’ve always said, even from just freshman year, like, if I would have known the stuff that I knew now, in high school, I would have been a really dominant player.”

Transylvania volunteer assistant coach Lea Wise Prewitt, a longtime development coach and a member of the 1982 UK women’s basketball team that won the SEC Tournament title, has worked a lot with Thornton.

“Dasia has matured in every phase of her game,” Prewitt said. “She set goals, listened to her coaches and worked on her individual game. Because of her improvement, she has been an integral part of her team being so successful. I am very proud of her and the team.”

This season, Thornton has averaged 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. In four years at Transylvania, she and her teammates have amassed an overall record of 98-10. But, for Thornton, the best parts of her collegiate playing career have come in the moments between games. That’s what she’ll remember the most.

“I think definitely the trips and the travel,” Thornton said. “Like, yes, the conference games were good, winning was good. But all the memories that we’ve made as a team, just hanging out in the hotel room, not even the actual basketball, like all of that stuff. That’s the stuff that I’ll remember. And we spend a lot of time together, so we know each other really well. And even when we’re not in basketball, we’re still hanging out outside of basketball. And it’s like, wow, all of these people, I’m going to know for the rest of my life. We’re still going to be close, we’ll talk about all the things we did. And I think 15 years down the line, we’ll be talking about this national championship that we won, as well.”

Saturday

Transylvania vs. Christopher Newport

What: NCAA Division III national championship game

When: Noon EDT

Where: American Airlines Center in Dallas

Records: Transylvania 32-0; Christopher Newport 31-0

TV: CBS Sports Network

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